CMHC releases May housing start numbers

In a release from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), housing starts in the Calgary Census Metropolitan Area were trending at 15,776 units in May compared to 17,239 in April. The trend is a six month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of total housing starts.

“After rising consistently since July 2013, the trend in total housing starts in Calgary decline in May,” said Richard Cho, CMHC’s senior market analyst for the Prairie and Territories Region. “Production of multi-family units slowed in May after reporting strong increases in the first four months of the year.”

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of the housing market. In some situations, analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading in some markets, as they are largely driven by the multiples segment of the markets which can be quite variable from one month to the next.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 11,678 units in May, down from 18.175 in April. Actual housing starts in May reported a reduction from the previous year, mainly due to fewer apartment units breaking ground.